


In Time You'll Learn Just As I Did

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Ficlet, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Leadership, Missing Scene, Peoplehood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 17:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11295108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: “Maybe…” says his daughter slowly. “Maybe all the chiefs have felt it. Maybe that’s what this place is, what it’s for. The place where all the past chiefs of our people decided to push away the call to sea that they felt, because they thought that was the best way to serve our people. Teach them to be happy here on the Island.Learnto be happy here themselves.” She pauses. “We’re made for so much more than that, Dad.”Tui and Moana, after Moana returns from sea.





	In Time You'll Learn Just As I Did

She is unsurprised, when she reaches the peak of the island, to see her father sitting there, cross-legged, and gazing past the tower of stones built by the past chiefs toward the sea. “Dad.”

His whole face brightens, softens, as he turns to look at her, and he wears the same expression as he did two days ago when he ran to meet her on the beach, his eyes flooding over with relief.

Moana’s guts contract. “I think I owe you an apolog—”

Tui raises a hand to silence her. “You owe me nothing.”

“No,” Moana insists softly as she sits down beside him. “I do. You were only trying to keep me safe, and—”

“Did you know that?”

“What?”

“When you left. Did you know that I only wanted you safe? That I loved you? That that is why I was so adamant?”

“Of course I knew that, Dad, I—”

“Because I worried, after you were gone, that you may have thought that I saw you only as the future chief of our people. That _that_ was why I was concerned for. And if the sea… _took_ …you, then you would… _leave_ …thinking that that was what I—”

“No!” Moana interrupts him. “I knew that you were afraid for me, Dad. I understood. Especially after Mom told me about…about your friend.”

“I did not want the sea to take another person precious to me. Least of all, the most precious thing in my life.”

“I’m sorry to have put you through—”

“No, Moana. I raised you to love and guide our people. And now that I know that you did what you did for _them_ , how could I be anything but _proud_? You saved the Island.”

“You know that that’s why I left, right? Because I felt the call to sea before, but I wouldn’t have...I didn’t do it for _me._ ”

“I know.” Tui places a hand on her back. “As I said, being chief suits you.”

Moana inhales, the revelation hitting her like waves crashing onto the beach in a storm. “You felt it too, didn’t you?”

“Felt what?”

“The call. It wasn’t just that you wanted adventure out at sea—you felt it in your bones like I did—calling out from inside you, pulling you out…”

“It was a long time ago, Moana.”

“But you felt it. You always told me growing up that I’d have to learn to be happy on the Island _just as you did._ So you felt that longing too.”

Tui sighs. “Yes, I suppose I did, once. But I pushed it away.” He pauses. “Did I ever tell you about the day that I placed my own stone up here?”

When Moana shakes her head, he continues. “It was right after I got Loto killed. My father had showed me this place just a few weeks before, and after…after Loto died, I decided that my place was here, and any thoughts of the sea that I had had…might still have had…it didn’t matter. I had to protect my people. And keeping them safe meant keeping them _here,_ away from the sea. When I put my stone here, it was like a pledge that I would forget about whatever dreams I had of the sea, in order to do my duty and serve my people.”

“Maybe…” says his daughter slowly. “Maybe all the chiefs have felt it. Maybe that’s what this place is, what it’s for. The place where all the past chiefs of our people decided to push away the call to sea that they felt, because they thought that was the best way to serve our people. Teach them to be happy here on the Island. Learn to be happy here themselves.” She pauses. “We’re made for so much more than that, Dad.”

“I don’t know.”

“I get why you feel that way. It’s only natural after so many years of pushing it away, and then being afraid of it. And after what you went through at sea, I don’t blame you. But I saw our ancestors out there. I saw what we were, and it felt _right._ In a way that nothing has ever felt quite right here. And we can be that again, Dad. It’s _safe_ now. Our people can be who we were meant to be.” 

“Well,” says Tui after a moment. “Who am I to argue with the future chief of Motunui?” Then, he leans forward and plants a gentle kiss onto his daughter’s forehead. 

Later, they will descend the mountain together. Together, they will tell the people that they will begin to learn to wayfind again, will reclaim its roots. And Tui will be as proud of his daughter as he has ever been. And Moana will be even prouder of her father. But for now, they sit here together, leaning with their backs on the pile of stones their ancestors built for support, but looking out together toward the sea.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please consider leaving a comment!


End file.
